Thanks 

When I was about 12 years old, I found one of these that my dad had made back when he was in high school shop class. 

the ball was wood. the spikes were old blacksmithing nails. whole thing including handle couldnt have weighed more then 1.5 lbs. 

 

of course I played with it, and of course I hurt myself with it, have a nice sized scar on my right forearm from where it decided to bite me. 

But I was always getting hurt at that age.

 

Weren't we all? I'm thrilled I've lived long enough for the parts to start wearing out. I helped a friend cast a 2.5"(?) aluminum spiked flail ball and we got told to melt it down by the boy's vice principle as soon as word got to him. LA Ca. schools were working HARD to become weapon free.  

Anyway, Mark and I finished it up in Dad's shop and Mark promptly put himself in the hospital with it. Cost him something like 20 stitches in three places from one swing. The trick working a flail is do NOT try to stop the swing till you hit something. . . .ELSE! It wouldn't have been so bad if Mark hadn't sharpened the spikes to needle points and sharp edges.

Frosty The Lucky.

58er, Nice Mace/Fail... !   Love the Dragon's Head !

Not sure if I missed it or passed over the post but how much did the finished product weigh ?

I know there was a release signed on this piece but can the blacksmith be held accountable for its use ?

They are very tricky weapons to use---or to defend against.   A bit like nunchaku and those have a looooong history of damaging folks who have not trained enough to use them properly...

Yeah, nunchaku are a forehead and elbow bane but that's because everybody wants to do the fancy, whirly between the legs, over the shoulder spinny stuff like Bruce Le, NOT learn how to use them. If Sensei caught you doing anything but blocks and hitting the bag with nunchaku you had to run around the block and that was about 4.5 miles. 

I believe the closest thing so a reasonably effective and safe spiked flail was a pole arm, hafted flails were more for parade, mounts and wall hanging. 

Frosty The Lucky.

 

The upside the ball flail is not a class 3 weapon!

2 hours ago, Frosty said:

hafted flails were more for parade, mounts and wall hanging. 

They were originally intended for threshing grain, actually. Over the years, they were adapted to battle, as many tools were. 

4 minutes ago, Will W. said:

Over the years, they were adapted to battle, as many tools were. 

 For example, the Okinawan kama derived from the humble sickle, and eventually blended in perfectly in both agricultural and martial  environments. 

One might even call it a "kama chameleon".

(JHCC----His sanity comes and goes; mine is long gone!)

3 hours ago, JHCC said:

One might even call it a "kama chameleon".

Ha!

Btw, 58er, meant to put it in my earlier post:

That thing looks MEAN!!! I would not want to be on the receiving end of it. Nice work. 

Thanks gentleman. ( I'm sure I'm using that term very liberally hehe  )

ball weighed in at just a pinch under 35 pounds. 

These days anyone can seemingly sue anyone for anything, but I've done all I can to protect my self. The rest I trust in God for and worry very little about  

 

Well my Father always said "Never sue anyone that doesn't have any money"---You can't get anything and you still have to pay your lawyer!"

5 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Well my Father always said "Never sue anyone that doesn't have any money"---You can't get anything and you still have to pay your lawyer!"

 Probably some of the wisest words I've heard in a while.

The best defense is an empty wallet eh. Guess I'm pretty safe.

Frosty The Lucky.

My brother made a flail in wood shop in high school back in the 50s.

At the time he was riding a motorcycle and one day someone cut him off in traffic. The last time he saw it, it was stuck in the trunk lid of a Chevy.

that sounds.... deadly. but also quite fun if used safely

Glad he didn't have a lanyard on it!

Wow, 35 pounds hanging off the end... Sounds exhausting to even hold. Maybe it's a two handed flail haha! It looks fantastic though, only thing I would want is a bit more decoration on the handle. Hopefully your client doesn't end up hurt from it!